Through its core academic mission, through the volunteer power of students and employees, and as an anchor institution and regional economic powerhouse, Drexel University has committed to working in partnership with Philadelphia and especially with the communities of West Philadelphia to create mutual benefit. Drexel and the Office of University and Community Partnerships offer a range of resources to neighborhood residents.

The Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships

The Dornsife Center is where Drexel students, faculty, and professional staff share knowledge resources with neighborhood residents and partner organizations. Our academic departments, administrative offices, and student organizations bring their own civic engagement missions to the Dornsife Center to meet the needs and interests identified by local community members, and the result is a creative collaboration around issues of shared importance.

The Dornsife Center hosts wellness services and programming, legal services, a writing workshop, performing arts classes, sound and music production workshops, digital literacy and jobs access programming, supports for small business, and much more. 

Everybody is welcome to the Dornsife Center's monthly community dinner, a family-friendly event where members of Drexel and West Philadelphia communities share a meal and get to know one another. Join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Check the Dornsife Center's website to learn more about programs and opportunities.

Lindy Scholars

A collaboration between the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement and Drexel's School of Education, the Lindy Scholars program is a free after-school mentorship program for middle school students in Martha Washington and Alain Locke public schools. Two days each week, participating students meet with Drexel student mentors to work on literacy, writing, and math skills.

Action for Early Learning

The West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning Initiative (AFEL) is a Drexel-led collaboration that is working to improve the quality of early childhood education in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone. Family Ambassadors help connect families and caregivers with information and resources around early learning and literacy, while the Alliance of Childcare Providers works directly with childcare center directors and teachers on quality improvement. The result of this work has been a measurable improvement in the number of children living in the Promise Zone who arrive at Kindergarten ready to read and learn. Look out for the AFEL "Green Shirts" at community events. 

The ExCITe Center 

Drexel's ExCITe Center is an exciting applied-learning lab for expressive and creative interaction technologies. One of the ExCITe center's many outward-facing programs is the Community Business Collaborative, which connects local business owners with Drexel students who build high quality websites for business owners.

Liberty Scholars

Each year Drexel awards 50 scholarships to Philadelphia high school graduates, covering full tuition and fees. Liberty Scholars fosters student success through a dedicated faculty or staff mentor, a learning community in which all scholars live during their freshman year, extracurricular and developmental programming, and active engagement with campus life.